Military Use of Underground Terrain

Eastler, Thomas E.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-3105-2_3

Cited by 21 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The constructed underground cities or tunnels are impressive examples of excavation for defensive and escape plans, which causes perturbation or removal of vast tons of lateritic soil. Warfare tunneling was widely practiced during the American Civil War, World War II, and the Vietnam War [43][44][45][46]. Another example is bombs and shells, causing cratering during their use in conflicts or troop exercises.…”

Section: Physical Impact Of Military Activities On Soilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Contamination in Areas Impacted by Military Activities: A Critical Review

et al. 2020

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Military activities drastically affect soil properties mainly via physical/chemical disturbances during military training and warfare. The present paper aims to review (1) physical/chemical disturbances in soils following military activities, (2) approaches to characterization of contaminated military-impacted sites, and (3) advances in human health risk assessment for evaluating potential adverse impacts. A literature search mainly covering the period 2010–2020 but also including relevant selected papers published before 2010 was conducted. Selected studies (more than 160) were grouped as follows and then reviewed: ~40 on the presence of potentially toxic elements (PTEs), ~20 on energetic compounds (ECs) and chemical warfare agents (CWAs), ~40 on human health risk assessment, and generic limits/legislation, and ~60 supporting studies. Soil physical disturbances (e.g., compaction by military traffic) may drastically affect soil properties (e.g., hydraulic conductivity) causing environmental issues (e.g., increased erosion). Chemical disturbances are caused by the introduction of numerous PTEs, ECs, and CWAs and are of a wide nature. Available generic limits/legislation for these substances is limited, and their contents do not always overlap. Among numerous PTEs in military-impacted zones, Pb seems particularly problematic due to its high toxicity, abundance, and persistence. For ECs and CWAs, their highly variable physiochemical properties and biodegradability govern their specific distribution, environmental fate, and transport. Most site characterization includes proper spatial/vertical profiling, albeit without adequate consideration of contaminant speciation/fractionation. Human health risk assessment studies generally follow an agreed upon framework; however, the depth/adequacy of their use varies. Generic limits/legislation limited to a few countries do not always include all contaminants of concern, their content doesn’t overlap, and scientific basis is not always clear. Thus, a comprehensive scientific framework covering a range of contaminants is needed. Overall, contaminant speciation, fractionation, and mobility have not been fully considered in numerous studies. Chemical speciation and bioaccessibility, which directly affect the results for risk characterization, should be properly integrated into risk assessment processes for accurate results.

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Section: Physical Impact Of Military Activities On Soilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Contamination in Areas Impacted by Military Activities: A Critical Review

et al. 2020

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“…Landform features have also been created for warfare or defence. These features include not only artificial structures, such as fortifications (De Matos-Machado et al, 2015; Ilyés, 2010; Moss and Erlandson, 1992), trenches (Baer and Ashworth, 1981; Houx, 2001; Power, 2009), improvised explosive device (IED) command wires (McDonald and Schumer, 2016), bunkers and missile silos, among others, but also existing underground terrain (Eastler, 2004) or rock defences (Moss and Erlandson, 1992). The most famous example of trench warfare is the Western Front World War I, which has become the classic example of stalemate, attrition and futility in modern conflict (Baer and Ashworth, 1981).…”

Section: The Diversity Of Anthropogenic Geomorphic Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

From features to fingerprints: A general diagnostic framework for anthropogenic geomorphology

Tarolli¹,

Cao

Sofia

et al. 2019

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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Human societies have been reshaping the geomorphology of landscapes for thousands of years, producing anthropogenic geomorphic features ranging from earthworks and reservoirs to settlements, roads, canals, ditches and plough furrows that have distinct characteristics compared with landforms produced by natural processes. Physical geographers have long recognized the widespread importance of these features in altering landforms and geomorphic processes, including hydrologic flows and stores, to processes of soil erosion and deposition. In many of the same landscapes, archaeologists have also utilized anthropogenic geomorphic features to detect and analyse human societal activities, including symbolic formations, agricultural systems, settlement patterns and trade networks. This paper provides a general framework aimed at integrating geophysical and archaeological approaches to observing, identifying and interpreting the full range of anthropogenic geomorphic features based on their structure and functioning, both individually and as components of landscape-scale management strategies by different societies, or “sociocultural fingerprints”. We then couple this framework with new algorithms developed to detect anthropogenic geomorphic features using precisely detailed three-dimensional reconstructions of landscape surface structure derived from LiDAR and computer vision photogrammetry. Human societies are now transforming the geomorphology of landscapes at increasing rates and scales across the globe. To understand the causes and consequences of these transformations and contribute to building sustainable futures, the science of physical geography must advance towards empirical and theoretical frameworks that integrate the natural and sociocultural forces that are now the main shapers of Earth’s surface processes.

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Military use of geologists and geology: a historical overview and introduction

Rose

Ehlen

Lawrence

2018

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Napoleon Bonaparte was, in 1798, the first general to include geologists as such on a military operation. Within the UK, the following century saw geology taught, and national geological mapping initiated, as a military science. Nevertheless, military geologists were not deployed on a battlefield until World War I, first by the German and Austro-Hungarian armies and later and less intensively those of the UK and USA. Geologists were used primarily to guide abstraction of groundwater, construction of ‘mine’ tunnels and dug-outs, development of fortifications and quarrying of natural resources to enhance or repair supply routes. Only the USSR and Germany entered World War II with organized military geological expertise, but the UK and later the USA made significant use of military geologists, albeit far fewer than the c. 400 in total used by German forces. Military geologist roles in World War II included most of those of World War I, but were extended to other aspects of terrain evaluation, notably the rapid construction of temporary airfields and factors affecting cross-country vehicular movement (‘going’). After 1945, more military geologists were used in the USA than Germany or the UK, in these and wider roles, but mostly as civilians or reservists.

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Military Use of Underground Terrain

Cited by 21 publications

References 5 publications

Soil Contamination in Areas Impacted by Military Activities: A Critical Review

Soil Contamination in Areas Impacted by Military Activities: A Critical Review

From features to fingerprints: A general diagnostic framework for anthropogenic geomorphology

Military use of geologists and geology: a historical overview and introduction

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